Eva Merrell, the top girls’ recruit in the high school class of 2018, has elected to make her verbal commitment to the University of Georgia class of 2022. She wrote on her social media:
“i am so truly honored&excited to announce my verbal commitment to UGA!!! GO DAWGS❤️????”
Merrell is a senior at Newport Beach’s Crean Lutheran South High School and swims year-round with Aquazot Swim Club. Known primarily as a butterflyer, she has dropped gobs of time in the backstroke over the last year and leads the class in that discipline. She has also just begun showing what she can do in the 200 fly: last fall she went from a 2:03 to a 1:56 in SCY. But that’s not all; she is also a solid freestyler who will be an asset to any number of relays.
A two-time USA Swimming Scholastic All-American, Merrell broke a total of 7 CIF-Southern Section Division II records this past May. She and her Crean Lutheran teammates took down the previous Crean mark in the 200 medley relay twice (she split a 24.55 50 back leadoff), she broke the 100 fly record twice (settling it at 52.51), Crean broke the 200 free relay twice (with a 23.41 leadoff from Merrell), and Merrell lowered the 100 back mark that had been set in prelims, going 53.12 in finals.
Merrell won the 200 back in the Big Ten vs. USA College Challenge meet last fall, dropping 5.2 seconds to go a lifetime best of 1:52.20. She also went a PB in the 100 back to finish third. At U.S. Olympic Team Trials she was a finalist in both the 100 fly and 200 back, finishing 5th and 6th, respectively. Merrell traveled to FINA/airweave Swimming World Cup 2016 with Team USA last fall, and represented the Red, White, and Blue at 2016 Junior Pan Pacs.
Top SCY times:
- 200 back – 1:52.20
- 100 back – 52.26
- 200 fly – 1:56.96
- 100 fly – 51.93
- 200 free – 1:45.89
- 100 free – 48.51
- 50 free – 22.26
Merrell’s best 200 back and 100 fly times would already score at NCAA’s and her 100 back isn’t far off (she would have been 26th out of heats at 2017 NCAAs). Her rapidly-improving 200 fly would have finished in the top 30. Merrell will join the Bulldogs’ class of 2022 with fellow verbal commits Dakota Luther, Madison Homovich, Olivia Carter, and Tatum Smith.
i am so truly honored&excited to announce my verbal commitment to UGA!!! GO DAWGS❤️🐾🐶😇🤗 pic.twitter.com/jyFREA8tlW
— eva mcneill (@eevamerrell) September 26, 2017
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
I have been waiting anxiously for Merrell to make her commitment. Have to admit I didn’t picture her at Georgia- but I should have. Congrats, Eva!!!
Stanford, Cal & Michigan all much better schools academically thou!
Who cares, the best schools academically are the B rates schools since the professors really teach where as at Stanford, Cal, and Michigan they have Assistants teach, Schools need to study the background of Antifa which was started by Leon Trotsky
“dropped gobs of time” has to be one of my favorite lines written in a Swimswam article. Congrats to Eva on the commitment!
recruiting’s gone by scary fast: only grinalds, tankersley, and nordmann left of the top 20
It was posted on the BI boards that Merrell had checked out Cal & Michigan before committing to Georgia. She is close with Homovich.
Tankersley visited Cal & Michigan too. Some speculation that she might show up at Stanford this or the following weekend.
Nordmann reportedly took trips to Texas, Michigan & Georgia. Also expected to pay a visit to Palo Alto.
Grinalds was at the Ivies (Harvard & Princeton).
Disclaimer: above are just rumors not actual facts.
nordmann definitely visited texas, georgia, and a&m. what are the BI boards?
http://bit.ly/2foYANy
http://bit.ly/2xJX3fl
http://bit.ly/2xA7Nv2
According to Instagram (stories included):
Nordmann was at Texas and Georgia. No sign of UMich but it might not have made an appearance.
Eva Merrell was at Cal the same weekend with Cassidy Bayer on her official trip, then the Georgia one. No sign of Michigan either, but I may have missed something.
No clue on Tankersley, her account is on private but hopefully what you are saying is right.
what are the bi boards?
Berkeley Insider?
It’s Bear Insider. https://bearinsider.com/forums/5/topics/29740/0 They have pictures from most of the recruiting weekends and try to use them to identify the swimmers, which is not completely reliable. Based on the pictures, I don’t think Nordmann was actually at Michigan, but Tankersly might have been.
WOW
congrats! she looked so thrilled at georgia in her instagram posts. georgia’s building a great 2018 class (luther, carter, homovich, merrell)
and smith
Boom-shaka-laka
Congratulations Eva and UGA! Great addition to the Dawg Legacy!